Why Kentucky Fried Chicken ( Kfc ) Uses Its Uniqueness As A Competitive Advantage

About everyone at some age, at some point or another, and in some country has gotten a sample of American's symbol for fast food through the golden arches of McDonald's. This report will attempt to analyze the external and internal sectors that affect the company's success. The external analysis will provide opportunities and threats while the internal analysis will show indicators of strength and weakness. It will then follow up with critical issues, strategic alternatives, recommendations and implementation. The case studied is found in Appendix 2 of Mary Coulter's "Strategic Management in Action" book.

To evaluate the direction that Kudler Fine food wants to take the company has prepared a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Treats (SWOT) analysis to assist the business leaders in making an intelligent decision regarding expansion. The company strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats are listed below. The company strengths are the organization is small, no direct competition, lots of choices for the consumer, very customer oriented, good store locations, high level of repeat customers, and the owner has good personal relationships with staff.

Chick-fil-A competitive advantage is their religious belief that they implement in their business decisions such as being closed on Sunday’s. Many religions see Sunday as the Sabbath. Sabbath meaning resting day. The Bible states, “The Sabbath is commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as God rested from creation” (Exodus 20:8 The Old Testament). Even though Chick-fil-A is closed on Sunday’s they make more being opened 6 days a week then their competitor KFC make being open 7 days a week (Peterson, 2015).

This case analysis evaluates Chick-fil-A. It is designed to show the Strength, weakness, opportunities and threat. It delineates how the founding principles have guided the company over the years, and how it has responded slowly to change over the years. CFA has grown to be a force to reckon with in the industry with strength in customer experience and sandwich trademark. However, the emerging markets, social changes, economic issues and intense rivalry will continue to pose threat to this strong cultured company. At the end of the case analysis, we would have been able to

The first KFC was opened in Tiananmen Square, China 1987; it struggled as western food was unknown to the east. This was still a very conservative nation, not prepared for the “Fast Food” takeover. The restaurant did pretty well, but grew slowly. The Harvard business review, stated that “in 1992 the Chinese government granted foreign companies greater access to markets, KFC China’s managers gradually developed the blueprint that would transform the chain.” (Yums' China, 2017) Although they have done well for themselves they struggled, as growth was steady but slow and their customer base was shrinking. “In November 2016 Yum China Holdings, Inc. became a licensee of Yum brands in Mainland China; they have exclusive rights to KFC.” (Yums' China, 2017) Yum controls approximately 7,300 restaurants and more than 400,000 employees in more than 1, 100 cities. YUMS generated over $8bln in sales in 2015.

This paper will discuss the kroger company’s strategy and competitive advantage. It will also discuss competition and strategy from rival company Walmart. Research will show whether Kroger uses an offensive or defensive strategic approach to business practices. It will discuss mergers and acquisitions of The Kroger Company (Bethel University, 2017).

REFERENCES•www.mcdonalds.com, accessed on 18 July, 2008•www.mcdonldsindia.net, accessed on 18 July, 2008•en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald's, accessed on 19 July, 2008•http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/263943/mcdonalds_strategic_marketing_mix.html?cat=4, accessed on 19 July, 2008•www.kfc.com, accessed on 25 August, 2008

As we look at our SWOT analysis to follow, we are in a sustainable overall position, we have strengths to balance our weaknesses, and particularly our knowledge of where we are heading for and what our customers need. We also have some attractive opportunities. However, we have a weakness in competiting against price-oriented competition from both local and international brand names.

The procedure begins with an online screening test to ensure that the candidate is fit for the business, and the actual work preview allows the candidate to personally experience the job and then decides to join KFC.

KFC Does two types of planning, Strategic Planning and Operational Planning. Strategic Planning is done to increase its market worth value of the market share and Operational Planning includes launching of new product to change or innovate its product line for the customers. Planning objectives of KFC are to expand the organization on all over the UAE, to create and build superior quality for the customers, to follow marketing mix strategies and to generate superior financial return for KFC and KFC’s employees. Menu planning is done by researching. Supply chain management planning includes the full process related to the supply of raw materials which include chicken, spices and packing material and to increase operation, the objectives of supply chain management planning is to increase the level of outsourcing, increase globalization, increase the supply, increase the competitive pressure and increase the customers.The KFC mission statement is to “sell food in a fast, friendly environment that appeals to pride conscious, health minded consumers”.

     Other issues regarding international expansion into other countries also need to be considered including, access to supportive infrastructure, adapting to local culture and trade laws. Competitors within each of these regions will also pose a threat; a deeper analysis of competition within the food service industry utilizing Porter’s Five Forces model is located on the next page.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a popular fast food chicken restaurant chain around the world. (Bell, Shelman, 2011) It is one of the subsidiary of Yum Brand. This company also operates the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. (Yum! Brands, Inc, 2016) KFC was founded by Harland Sanders in 1952. (Bell, Shelman, 2011) Sanders was successful in creating the brand, even the logo of KFC brand is the portrait of him. He became a notable figure in American history thanks to his great contribution on creating KFC brand. Nowadays, KFC becomes more and more popular, the sales ranking of KFC was the 11th among the worldwide restaurant brands. (The QSR 50, 2015) The sales of KFC in 2014 was 4200 million dollars. (Details in Appendix 1) It means KFC has a large quantities of consumption needs. Actually, KFC has 14,577 restaurants around the world and 70% of them are located outside America (Yum Brand Annual Report, 2015). The restaurant profit was increased year by year from 2013 to 2015. (Details in Appendix 2) Therefore, it is potential to enlarge the customer base by analyzing consumer behaviors.

The second force that acts on the industry is the threat of new entrants. Fortunately for McDonald’s and it’s over 30,000 restaurants world-wide, the corporation has set itself in a position of dominance. Using a growth strategy, “McDonald’s is continuously expanding its reach which makes it increasingly difficult for new fast food restaurants to enter the industry, through franchising, McDonald’s is able to reach nearly every corner of the globe” (Shell, Ellen Ruppel).

The main problem from McDonald's case, McDonald's Polishing the Golden Arches, is how to classify McDonald's strategy through Plan to Win into one of the five generic competitive strategies. Before we solve this main problem, we should determine the chief economic and business characteristics, the five forces analysis, and also the driving forces of the fast-food industry. After that we identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by using SWOT analysis. Finally, we classify McDonald's strategy into one of the five generic competitive strategies.

Providing customers with the best of both worlds: west meets east. In addition to its radical strategic approach of localization with regard to its food, they extended that viewpoint when selecting their management team. By hiring Chinese executives, Yum! Brands is able to build relationships with the local suppliers more easily and quickly. It definitely helps with their competitive advantage that chicken is a staple meat in China. Given these factors, it is clear that KFC has a competitive advantage in this market. However, taking a closer look at the industry and thinking longer-term, the competitiveness is undesirable but there is still potential to improve profitability. See the analysis